Another of country music's very young new singers, Jessica Andrews has a voice very suited to her material - be it emotional, enthusiastic, or just plain fun. Her producers were smart enough to use a variety of material on her debut album, Heart Shaped World, rather than having her do all of a kind, say, all Patsy Cline sounding material like on Leann Rimes' first (which I'm not knocking, mind you - I love Leann, I love Blue, and for her, it worked).

Last year and the year before, you might have had trouble trying to recall if you'd heard Jessica, even though her "I Will Be There For You" was ubiquitous on country radio late spring and in the summer of 1999. You might have heard it at the movies or on radio other than country due to its inclusion in Prince Of Egypt. Or maybe you've heard "You Go First" later that year (you may think the title is "Do You Want To Kiss").

Several more tunes became hit singles for Jessica, including the title track, "Heart Shaped World," and "Unbreakable Heart" (written by Benmont Tench, keyboardist for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers).

I caught Jessica Andrews' performance September 5 at Kansas City's Spirit Fest '99. She related well to the audience. Musically she was excellent, performing her entire CD and mixing in a few other songs from Patsy Cline to Kathy Mattea (she indicated that the song she performed, "Sending Me Angels," was a favorite of hers and one she'd really like to include on her next CD - it didn't make it there. Much as I like the Mattea take on it, MY favorite version of that song is the one on One Of The Fortunate Few by Delbert McClinton - who incidentally, performed on the main stage at Spirit Fest that same evening.)

Spring 2001 and Jessica's new CD has been released - no more trouble trying to recall whether you've heard her, "Who I Am" (Rosemary's granddaughter among other identifications) is playing everywhere. Great song, great message, great voice. Her voice is the ticket here - so far none of the other songs has really grabbed me the way several of those on Heart Shaped World did. They may grow on me, though, and you may find several on Who I Am that grab you instantly. Certainly the voice will.

If you're interested, here is Jessica Andrews Official Web Site.

Music Home

Amazon.com's Music Books Page

To search for anything visit
the search pages at michaelseclectic.com

Click below to leave my music pages and go to

Copyright © 2001 MJB - michael47m@yahoo.com

This page updated May 12, 2001

Web site design, maintenance and consulting